The original Audi A5 coupé burst onto the scene 10-years ago and at the time its creator, Walter de Silva, described it as the ‘the most beautiful car I’ve ever designed’. No argument there.

With most cars, you have a glance before leaping into the driver’s seat to see what’s what.

Not the Audi S5 coupé.

Like a Monet, we stood back and took in the Glacier White beauty.

Admired it up close and from a distance. Slowly walked around it taking in every curve and line. Touched it. Mesmerized by its beauty from every angle.

To me, the evolutionary tweaking inside and out has heightened its appeal, if that’s possible.

But there’s more to the 2017 finessing of the A5 coupé range than a nip and tuck.

Sitting at the top of the range is the S5 coupé, the quickest and slickest of all A5s.

The price starts at $105,800 and it comes with an extra $26,000 worth of kit over its predecessor.

I enjoyed a short blast in the S5 coupé over a few Targa Tasmania stages earlier in the year and came away deeply impressed. Now it is time for a gallop on home soil.

Near my home is some fabulous blacktop draped across a mountain range that’s perfect for the S5 coupé to perform its magic.

Fast and flowing with crests and dips, open radius bends glued to the end of long straights. Perfect.

Audi’s S5 coupé operates at a rarefied level that few can match and with a few kilometres under my belt, I began to think what items I could flog, to permanently park one in my driveway.

The Audi S5 coupé is a sledgehammer in a velvet glove; its understated styling masking its considerable muscle.

I like that as nothing beats the element of surprise.

The new S5 coupé is the quickest yet and thanks to a Jenny Craig diet, 60kg lighter too. The powerhouse under the bulging bonnet is a 260kW, 500Nm 3.0-litre V6 with a twin-scroll turbo nestled in the Vee to eliminate lag.

Standstill to 100km/h is over in 4.7 seconds and its top speed is 250km/h. When you tickle the throttle, it grabs your attention.

All that mumbo is fed to the quattro all-wheel drive via an eight-speed tiptronic transmission that shifts imperceptibly unless you glance at the tacho.

Or….. if you decide to play with the launch control. Then its ferocious acceleration fires you at the horizon like a catapult with each gear change jamming you back in the seat. Wonderful.

There are five dial-a-drive modes that alter the driveline, new five-link suspension and electro-assisted steering; transforming it from opera to hard rock.

The way the Audi S5 coupé scythes through corners defies belief. It’s like a slot car, egging you on to up the tempo.

Firing out of corners needs nothing more than a brush of the throttle, as the turbine-smooth V6 turbo powerhouse starts delivering its considerable torque from 1370rpm and pulls strongly up to its 6500rpm redline.

Equally impressive are the massive Brembo brakes, wonderfully progressive in application with no interference from the ABS even under hard braking.

The Audi S5 coupé is equally adept at pootling through city traffic and is a joy on a long-distance run.

In short, the Audi S5 coupé is an exceptionally capable and rewarding car to drive.

The S5 coupé’s cabin like every Audi I have driven is a special place to be, extravagantly appointed and sumptuous with body-wrapping leather sports seats, carbon trimmings, plenty of tactile surfaces and bang on ergonomically.

The hi-tech S5 coupé is fitted with the brilliant LED Virtual Cockpit, up to the minute infotainment with a swathe of apps plus Apple play and Android Auto, a sound hall audio system, and a long, long list of cutting-edge safety and driver assist aids.

The new Audi S5 coupé builds on the previous lofty standards of its predecessor.